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鉢合わせ (はちあわせ) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

鉢はち合あわせ

は

ち

あ

わ

せ

Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru', intransitive verb

bumping of heads; head-on collision

Literal physical collision of heads or objects; often used for accidental bumps.

廊ろう下かで同どう僚りょうと鉢はち合あわせして、お互たがいの頭あたまをぶつけた。
I bumped heads with a colleague in the hallway, hitting each other's heads.

2

noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru', intransitive verb

running into; encountering unexpectedly

Figurative use for unexpectedly meeting someone or something, often with a negative or awkward connotation.

駅えきで嫌いやな奴やつと鉢はち合あわせした。
I ran into an unpleasant guy at the station.
会かい議ぎでライバル会社がいしゃの社しゃ長ちょうと鉢はち合あわせになった。
I unexpectedly encountered the president of a rival company at the meeting.

Written forms

鉢はち合あわせUsage87%
Standard kanji spelling; used in news and common writing.
鉢合はちあわせUsage8%
search-only kanji form
Search-only variant with 合せ.
ハチ合あわせUsage3%
search-only kanji form
Search-only variant with katakana ハチ.
はちあわせUsage3%

Kanji

鉢bowl, rice tub, pot
合fit, suit, join

Similar words

遭そう遇ぐう
遭遇 is a more formal term for encountering something, often used for disasters or rare events, while 鉢合わせ implies an accidental, often awkward face-to-face meeting.
ばったり
ばったり is an adverb describing a sudden, chance meeting, often used with 会う. 鉢合わせ is a noun/suru verb that emphasizes the collision-like nature of the encounter.

Etymology

Compound of 鉢 (hachi, 'bowl' or 'head') and 合わせ (awase, 'joining' or 'matching'), literally 'bowls meeting', referring to heads colliding. The figurative sense of unexpectedly meeting someone derives from the image of two people's paths colliding.